Graduate and Postdoctoral Research Symposium 2020: Full Schedule

12:15pm EST

Registration and Lunch |Third Floor Mezzanine

Attendees are to check-in at the Third Floor Mezzanine to pick up their name badges and programs. Lunch will be provided.

Thursday March 5, 2020 12:15pm - 1:00pm EST
Third Floor Mezzanine

Registration

1:00pm EST

Keynote Address │ East Ballroom

The Symposium will begin with welcoming remarks by Dr. Guillermo "Willy" Prado, Dean of the Graduate School. Dr. Hansel Tookes will provide the keynote address with his presentation titled A Decade of Determination: From Capstone to Statewide Law. The session will end with 10 minutes of Q&A moderated by Dr. Perrino.

Hansel Tookes, MD, MPH is Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He joined the faculty in the Division of Infectious Diseases after completing his residency in Internal Medicine at Jackson Memorial Hospital. He is the Principal Investigator of the UM Harm Reduction Research Group which houses the IDEA Exchange, Miami’s pilot syringe access program. His research interests include behavioral interventions and innovative approaches to HIV prevention. He has received numerous honors including Starbucks Upstander, Miami Chamber of Commerce Healthcare Hero, and SAVE Champion of Equality. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Florida Medical Association and is a delegate to the American Medical Association. Prior to medical school, Dr. Tookes worked in public health. He graduated from Yale University with a B.S. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology.

Keynote Speaker

Hansel Tookes III

Hansel Tookes, MD, MPH is Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He joined the faculty in the Division of Infectious Diseases after completing his residency in Internal Medicine at Jackson Memorial Hospital. He is the... Read More →

CV Tookes Hansel cv march2018 pdf

Thursday March 5, 2020 1:00pm - 1:50pm EST
East Ballroom

Keynote

2:00pm EST

Poster Session │ Center Ballroom

Posters displayed during the 2:00-3:20 p.m. poster session will continue to be showcased during a reception for all attendees in the Center Ballroom to promote discussion, networking, and collaboration.

For a full list of poster presenters, click here.

Thursday March 5, 2020 2:00pm - 3:20pm EST
Center Ballroom

Poster Presentations

3:30pm EST

Oral Presentation Session- Exercise Physiology & Music Education│ Vista Room

Oral Presentations will take place in six concurrent sessions throughout the Shalala Student Center third floor.

Presenters

Afton Seeley

Oral Presentation, Serially-Applied Ischemic Preconditioning Mediation of Cardiopulmonary Compensations and Oxygen Kinetics during Exercise at Simulated High Altitude

Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) involves brief, repetitive blood flow restriction of the limbs, capable of enhancing local blood flow and oxygen use. As oxygen availability is of concern with increasing altitude, an evaluation of IPC’s potential to influence physiological compensations... Read More →

Hilary Yip

Oral Presentation, A Rhythmic Cueing in Martial Arts Protocol for the Motor Skills of Children with Autism: An Exploratory Pilot Study

Social interactions of children with autism may be impacted by motor differences. Previous research shows that motor skills of children with autism improve following martial arts programs and rhythmic interventions. Rhythm and motor skills are processed in similar neural areas, thus... Read More →

David McMillan

Oral Presentation, Dietary Fat Metabolism is Impaired due to Hormonal Deficiency in Persons with Spinal Cord Injury

Impairments in mobility are only one of the health problems faced by persons living with spinal cord injury (SCI). Neurological deficits also change unconscious bodily functions, such as the processing of food. Specifically, our laboratory has documented exaggerated fat in the blood... Read More →

Victor Rubio Carrillo

Oral Presentation, Societal Values and their Representation in Children’s Musical Preferences

We live an unprecedented time of access to digital media. Children’s musical preferences are vast and rapidly shifting. Children are keen to track their favorite artists’ new releases and use their music for aesthetic enjoyment. Yet, with this deliberate access, problems arise... Read More →

Thursday March 5, 2020 3:30pm - 4:50pm EST
Vista Room

Oral Presentations

3:30pm EST

Oral Presentation Session- Health & Life Sciences II│ Iron Arrow Room

Oral Presentations will take place in six concurrent sessions throughout the Shalala Student Center third floor.

Presenters

Xianzun Tao

Oral Presentation, Modulating Polyamine Metabolism to Extend Lifespan and Protect against Tauopathy

Polyamines, namely spermidine, spermine, and their precursor putrescine, are positively charged small molecules essential for life and broadly regulates cellular activities. Spermidine, in particular, has been implicated in aging and neurodegeneration, likely through regulating autophagy... Read More →

Katrina Celis Delgado

Oral Presentation, Single-nucleus RNA Sequencing Analysis of Alzheimer Disease Brains from APOE4 Carriers with African or European Local Genomic Ancestry surrounding APOE Gene Demonstrates Differences in APOE Expression

APOE4 is the strongest genetic risk factor for late onset AD. Local genomic ancestry (LA) surrounding the APOE region has been associated with a decreased risk for AD in African Americans (AA) relative to Non-Hispanic Whites (NHW). This difference in risk is not attributed to difference... Read More →

Alba Timon-Gomez

Oral Presentation, Role of the Hypoxia-Inducible Factors HIGD1A and HIGD2A in the Assembly of Mitochondrial Respiratory Chain Complexes and Supercomplexes

Deficiencies in the mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC) frequently cause encephalomyopathy. The MRC is responsible for the aerobic generation of energy within the cell and is composed by four transmembrane multimeric enzymatic complexes (CI-CIV) and two electron carriers. The respiratory... Read More →

Daisy Buzzoni

Oral Presentation, Hard Graft: A Novel Field-Based Method of Vectoring Thermotolerant Durusdinium trenchii Symbionts into Massive Coral Colonies

Durusdinium trenchii is known to confer greater thermal tolerance to its coral hosts than other common Caribbean algal symbionts, and can increase in abundance following bleaching events. Some corals can be induced to host >99% D. trenchii through controlled bleaching and recovery... Read More →

Thursday March 5, 2020 3:30pm - 4:50pm EST
Iron Arrow Room

Oral Presentations

3:30pm EST

Oral Presentation Session- Health & Life Sciences I│ Senate Room

Oral Presentations will take place in six concurrent sessions throughout the Shalala Student Center third floor.

Presenters

Alexander Kula

Oral Presentation, Evolutionary Rescue from a Wave of Biological Invasion in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Biological invasions alter the probability of extinction, risk factors for extinction, and resulting spatial patterns of the endemic population. Biological invasions are becoming increasingly common with the accelerating impact of climate change, habitat fragmentation, and species... Read More →

Mengxi Shen

Oral Presentation, Imaging of Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy with Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Before and After Treatment with Vascular Endothelial Growth Inhibitors

Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), a subtype of neovascular age-related macular degeneration that affects a younger population, is defined by the presence of type 1 macular neovascularization characterized by branching vascular networks (BVNs) with polyp-like dilations. As the... Read More →

Emmanuel Medrano

Oral Presentation, Mechanosensory Feedback Regulates Egg-Laying Circuit Activity and Behavior of C. elegans

Understanding how animal behaviors are controlled by neural circuits is one of the fundamental goals of neuroscience. In the nematode worm, Caenorhabditis elegans, egg-laying behavior occurs in ‘active’ states where 3-5 eggs are laid within ~2 minutes punctuated by ~20 minute... Read More →

Stanislav Lazopulo

Oral Presentation, Color Preference in Fruit Flies Drosophila melanogaster Requires Visual and Peripheral Photoreceptors and Depends on the Time of Day

Light is essential for the survival of almost all organisms, it brings warmth and allows photosynthesis, but also provides information about the surroundings and the time of the day. Organisms from bacteria to mammals have developed light-sensitive organs, called photoreceptors, which... Read More →

Thursday March 5, 2020 3:30pm - 4:50pm EST
Senate Room

Oral Presentations

3:30pm EST

Oral Presentation Session- Physical Sciences & Engineering│ West Ballroom

Oral Presentations will take place in six concurrent sessions throughout the Shalala Student Center third floor.

Presenters

Breanna Zavadoff

Oral Presentation, Dynamic Modulators of European Atmospheric Rivers

Large scale analysis of the dynamic properties of landfalling atmospheric rivers (ARs) over western Europe are performed utilizing 38 years of the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2) reanalysis dataset. A climatology of landfalling... Read More →

SeyedMohammadReza Ghiasian

Oral Presenter, Efficient & Ecofriendly Coastal Infrastructure for Shoreline Protection

During the last decade, tropical cyclones and hurricanes are responsible for more than 53% of the total damages/costs, and more than 6,500 deaths. Considering more than 40% of U.S. population live in coastal areas, identifying sustainable solutions against hazards, such as flooding... Read More →

Omar Aloui

Oral Presentation, Cellular Morphogenesis of Self-Stressed Frameworks and Tensegrity Structures

Tensegrity represents systems composed of linear elements in tension and compression in a stable state of self-equilibrium. Tensegrity applications can be found in art, science and engineering and across scales from the conception of metamaterials and the simulation of biological... Read More →

Thursday March 5, 2020 3:30pm - 4:50pm EST
West Ballroom

Oral Presentations

3:30pm EST

Oral Presentation Session- Social & Behavioral Sciences II│ Activities Room North

Oral Presentations will take place in six concurrent sessions throughout the Shalala Student Center third floor.

Presenters

Leah Davis Ewart

Oral Presenter, HIV Testing and PrEP Stigma Among Latino Sexual Minority Men Living in Miami- A GIS Analysis

AIM: South Florida had the highest rate of new HIV diagnoses in the US from 2015-2019, with more than half of diagnoses among Latino sexual minority men and other men who have some with men. There are disparities in uptake of HIV prevention strategies for Latinos: nationally, more... Read More →

Alyssa Lozano

Oral Presentation, Predictors of E-Cigarette Use among Hispanic Sexual Minority Youth: A Moderated Mediation Model of Depression and Parent Support

Disclosure of sexual orientation, incidence of depression, and e-cigarette use all peak in adolescence. There is a complex interplay of factors that are rooted in the family system which have a drastic effect on adverse health behaviors in Hispanic Sexual Minority Youth (HSMY). This... Read More →

Melanie Christina Goergmaier

Oral Presentation, EU-US Trade War: Transatlantic Policy Impact

From the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) to the Trump Trade War, this paper will examine the transatlantic trade relationship between the European Union and the United States and the policy impact on both sides of the Atlantic. This paper will also provide policy... Read More →

Cho Hee Shrader

Oral Presentation, A Spatially Explicit Social Network Approach to Characterize Correlates of Immigration Stress and Drug Use Density on Latino MSM Geographic Accessibility to PrEP Services in Miami

Miami-Dade County (MDC), the county where UM is located, is the epicenter of the HIV epidemic. The CDC estimates that one in five Latino men who have sex with men (MSM) will be diagnosed with HIV by age 50. Approximately 70% of 2.8 million MDC residents identify as Latino. While HIV... Read More →

Thursday March 5, 2020 3:30pm - 4:50pm EST
Activities Room North

Oral Presentations

3:30pm EST

Oral Presentation Session- Social & Behavioral Sciences I│ Activities Room South

Oral Presentations will take place in six concurrent sessions throughout the Shalala Student Center third floor.

Presenters

Carolien Kraan

Oral Presentation, Lessons for Managed Retreat from FEMA Property Buyouts and Post-buyout Relocations

As the climate continues to change, retreat as an adaptation option will become increasingly important and inevitable in some locations. To date, one of the longest-running and largest examples of managed retreat globally has been buyouts of flood-prone properties funded by the U.S... Read More →

Alejandra Fernandez

Oral Presentation, Preliminary Evidence for a Family Functioning Screening Tool

Substance use and sexual risk behaviors are associated with the leading causes of death for adolescents between the ages of 10 and 24 in the United States, and disproportionately affect Hispanic adolescents when compared to their non-Hispanic White and Black adolescent counterparts... Read More →

Guangyu Zeng

Oral Presentation, How Do Infants React to Strangers? Gaze Aversion, Pupil Dilation, and Temperamental Fear in Early Infancy

Avoiding eye contact and looking away periodically during social interactions may help infants regulate their emotions (e.g., feeling stressed, overwhelmed, over-stimulated). Infants interact with many new people in the first months after birth, reflecting important social learning... Read More →

Sameena Sheikh-Wu

Poster Presenter #50, Symptom Occurrence, Frequency, and Severity among Colorectal Cancer Survivors during Acute Cancer Survivorship

Purpose: Advancements in early cancer detection and treatment have decreased mortality rates by 2.3% since 2012 among colorectal cancer (CRC), a cancer of the digestive tract, colon, or rectum. However, CRC survivors continue to report numerous symptoms that produce adverse health-related o... Read More →

Thursday March 5, 2020 3:30pm - 4:50pm EST
Activities Room South

Oral Presentations

5:00pm EST

Ted-like Talk │ East Ballroom

During this session, presenter will have 10 minutes to discuss their research in a TED-like Talk format onstage. The session will conclude with 15 minutes of Q&A moderated by Dr. Tatiana Perrino, Associate Dean of the Graduate School.

Presenters

Jeff Peterson

Ted-like Talk, Bringing Microbes into the Light: Dosage Measurement of Rose Bengal Photodynamic Antimicrobial Therapy (RB-PDAT) for Treatment of Corneal Infections

Rose Bengal Photodynamic Antimicrobial Therapy (RB-PDAT) can effectively treat corneal infection. RB-PDAT works by activating the photosensitizer Rose Bengal (RB) with green light to produce antimicrobial singlet oxygen (1O2). The purpose of this project was to create a proof-of-principle... Read More →

Olivia Altamirano

Ted-like Talk, Risk and Resiliency Factors Related to Dementia Caregiver Mental Health

Prevalence rates for dementia are expected to rise exponentially as the elderly population rises. Therefore, a corresponding increase in the number of family members who will become dementia caregivers. Research suggests that caregivers of people with dementia experience high rates... Read More →

Maya Elias

Ted-like Talk, Higher Ratios of Daytime-to-Nighttime Activity are Associated with Cognitive Function among Older Adult ICU Survivors

Critically ill older adults are profoundly inactive while in ICU; therefore, activity promotion after ICU discharge is crucial for recovery. Up to 90% of older ICU survivors are discharged with at least one “geriatric syndrome” (e.g., delirium, cognitive impairment). Poor executive... Read More →

Thursday March 5, 2020 5:00pm - 5:50pm EST
East Ballroom

Ted-like Talks

6:00pm EST

Awards Ceremony & Reception │ East and Center Ballrooms

All attendees and presenters are invited to attend the networking reception. Food will be served. The awards for each session will be announced: oral presentations and poster session (Health & Life Sciences, Engineering & Physical Sciences, and Behavioral & Social Sciences).

Thursday March 5, 2020 6:00pm - 6:30pm EST
East and Center Ballrooms

Awards